The Wedding
by Rodwen Fefalas
Summary: The moment has come: Alice and Bella are going to be joined in holy matrimony...but not without a bump or two in the road first.
1. Chapter 1

Six Months Before

Alice watched in silence as Bella rotated on the stool in the middle of the dressing room. They each wore a soft pink taffeta gown, Alice's cut in a mermaid style and Bella's cut in a princess silhouette, but Bella kept shaking her head, her skin sparkling in the pink-gold afternoon sun.

"No, I just don't see it," she said, taking big handfuls of skirt in her hands and stepping off the stool. Alice caught a small glimpse of her feet, creamy toes with delicate salmon polish on her nails, and smiled, a look that disappeared as soon as Bella's eyes caught her own. "I don't see why we need to have bridesmaids in this color. It's not flattering."

Alice tilted her head, giving her fiancee a sideways look that always meant "You know I'm right and you just don't like it." She could feel the flared ends of her new haircut shivering against her neck. They'd agreed she wouldn't get it trimmed into quite the same skull-hugging cap she'd worn for the last year, but Bella had admitted to liking Alice with shorter hair. So the elder vampire had had Rosalie help her curl the tips in different directions for the sake of their wedding rehearsals.

"It's not flattering!" Bella said, breaking her lover's silence and bringing the conversation back to the present. She had the smallest smile on her face, but her cheeks were flushing and as she pushed her fingers through her own long, delicately flowing locks, Alice could almost smell the agitation this was causing.

Getting to her feet in a springing step, the elder vampire crossed to the center of the room and took Bella's hands. "I think we've had quite enough excitement over this, don't you?" she whispered, leaning her forehead against her fiancee's.

Bella touched the tip of her nose to Alice's and shook her head. "No, I think I want to get this done," she said. Taking back her hands, she turned to the farthest wall to stare at the line of multicolored gowns. It was a position she'd taken up since the second they'd stepped into the bridal boutique and for a moment, Alice was transported back to the hour they'd walked in—four hours prior to when they'd landed themselves.

"Try silver," Alice said at long last, smoothing the hips of her dress over her own legs. When Bella threw a questioning glance over her shoulder, Alice smiled. "Silver's a fairly neutral color. It should look good on almost everyone."

Bella smiled at her and plucked a dress from the hook farthest to the left. The gown itself had a giant bow on the shoulder with great ruffles and cascades of fabric down the sides and back to give the skirt volume. With a grimace, Bella carried it behind the Japanese screen they'd been given for the back corner of the room—farthest from the window—and within moments, was parading around in the great cupcake of a silhouette.

"Well, the style's not flattering," Alice said. She touched the bow on the shoulder and let her hand fall down to the waist, whereupon the entire ensemble burst into frills. Winking up at her fiancee, the elder vampire scrunched her nose.

Bella sucked in her cheeks, pushed back her shoulders, and jutted out a hip, placing the corresponding hand gently on top of the nearest frill. "It's haute couture, darling, of course it's not flattering!" she said between pursed lips.

Alice slapped a hand to her mouth to suppress her giggles and then smacked her fiancee lightly on the arm. "That's horrible. Stop."

"You're laughing, too," Bella said as she dissolved into laughter.

"I know, but I shouldn't." Swallowing the rest of her mirth, Alice stuck her hands behind her back and watched her fiancee—she just loved that word, rolling it around in the back of her head like a hard candy—twirl about across the plush beige carpeting. "So, what do you think? Obviously we'd get a different cut—"

"Couldn't we just let everyone choose their own dresses, as long as they can all come in the same slate gray?" Bella asked. She sounded slightly out-of-breath, given she'd taken to hopping on one foot and then another. When Alice didn't say anything, she stopped bouncing and pouted.

"Bella, don't you want them all to be equal?" the elder vampire asked.

The younger shrugged. "I think it'll just lead up to more problems. I mean, who are we inviting for bridesmaids, anyway?"

Alice's jaw dropped. "You haven't really forgotten, have you?" she whispered.

Bella waited another second, letting her fiancee exist in the scandal, before she shook her head. "No, of course not. I'm just—tired of this part. It took long enough to pick a color."

Relieved, Alice touched her hand to her head, her eyes fluttering closed dramatically. "Good. That was scary."

"Are you afraid of being upstaged?" Bella asked.

The question shocked Alice so completely that for a moment, she couldn't answer. Her thoughts went straight to the dress she'd picked out on nearly the second month of their confirmed engagement—confirmed in the most public and outspoken sense. She'd gone with Esme in lieu of Bella being…well, the fiancee who wasn't allowed to see the gown. Her mother had crooned and cried and they'd wept together when Alice had emerged in her chosen silhouette. Even as they'd stood together, staring in awe at the silk and satin combination, Alice had felt a pang that felt like a two-sided coin.

On the one hand, the day coming up felt more special than the one she'd shared with Jasper. Somehow, that had leaked its way into her consciousness from deep within her memories. On the other hand, she wondered what Bella would choose, and then what their party would choose. Under a sort of silent obligation to do this the right way for the time in which they were marrying, Alice had watched a few wedding reality shows. The whole thing had made her cringe and gasp and blush until she'd turned them off in outrage. The party members, from brides to bridesmaids to mothers to—in some cases-fiancees and in-laws, were all brazenly outspoken and overshadowing the bride. The maids acted as if it were their day and the parents refused to acknowledge their children's choices as being legitimate. If someone liked something, they felt the need for everyone to like it or they wouldn't buy it.

In a lot of ways, it made Alice's stomach upset and her fears turned inwards. They lingered over the dress and the maids and the family members. She wondered what she would do if something like that happened to them.

"Alice?"

Bella's voice snapped her to reality just in time for her to see her fiancee coming towards her with outstretched arms.

"You are worried, aren't you?" Bella asked.

Pursing her lips, Alice accepted the hug, pressing her face into her lover's shoulder. "I can't help it," she whispered.

As Bella rubbed her back, she spoke softly into Alice's hair. "You know, we're very close to all of our bridesmaids. Rosalie will be understanding and so will Jess. I'm sure Bree will love whatever we find. She's getting her fashion sense from you, you know."

The thought made Alice laugh and she sniffled hard. Giving Bella one last, tight hug, the elder vampire pulled back and wiped at her eyes, even though her tears had long since dried up and nothing would be dropping from her lashes. "You're right. I'm worrying over nothing, aren't I?" she whispered, sliding her hands into Bella's.

Her fiancee's lips quirked in a knowing smile. "You are," she said. Reaching up, she brushed a finger down Alice's cheek. "I think you've seen too many of those horrible reality shows."

"No more TV, right?"

Bella laughed, wrapping her hands around Alice's waist to press a kiss against the apple of the elder vampire's cheek. "None whatsoever. In fact, I didn't know we even had a TV at home anymore."

"It's in the basement. The one we used to watch movies on?"

A look of wonder opened up the younger vampire's face. "That's where we put it. All right, here," she said, turning. "Unzip me. We'll go with this color and now we need to get changed. The day's already gone."

Smiling, Alice made slow work of helping her fiancee from her dress. They both took care not to rip or rend the fabric as they peeled it from their shoulders and strung them back up on hangers. When they bid farewell to the designers at the front of the shop, they sent in their choice of color and gave over the addresses of the other women who were going to need them. The women in charge gave them looks of slight awe, but said nothing. Alice smiled as Bella blushed under the attention, and wrapped her arm around her lover's waist.

Being a vampire would take some getting used to, but the elder had every confidence in her darling newborn.


	2. Chapter 2

Three Months Before

"Are you sure we have everything?" Bella asked for the third time that week. She held one of her massive lists—a revised second edition checklist of their guests, places of reservation, stores and corresponding purchases, hotel rooms, and the dates for which everything needed to be sent—in one hand and a pen int he other.

From her spot in the corner of the living room, Alice watched her Fiancee roam about. The sun streamed in on their white space—the first they'd ever chosen together, one that was about as modern and minimalist as a first apartment could get—and illuminated them alongside all of their furniture. Despite Bella's sudden decision to erupt their boxes and filing cabinets of paperwork and samples all over the glass coffee table standing between them, the place had remained fairly spotless.

_We didn't have as much as I'd thought_, Alice told herself.

"I think you're overthinking this," she told her fiancee. The words came easily to her, sliding off her tongue with the same measure of certainty that they'd done the first hundred times she'd spoken them.

For whatever reason, this time, they caught Bella's full attention. The newborn looked at her with wide, round eyes and her hands fell to her sides. "How do you know?" she demanded, though Alice was more than certain she didn't realize how much like an interrogation Bella was making this. "There are so many tiny details—it's like building a doll house. A real one, not one of those plastic contraptions that you get in toy stores."

Getting to her feet, Alice gave her lover a soft smile. She took the massive list from her lover's fingers and ran her own down the row of neatly typed names. In the back of her mind, the neatness impressed her. Normally, Alice was the one who needed to type out their specifics for just about everything because Bella got her hands onto their paperwork and began scribbling in multicolored pens. This time, not a single stray blue or red or green mark marred the paper.

"We've secured the venue—backyard, mom and dad, Carlisle and Esme. The flowers are coming in for that—"

"Yes, the garland of red and white roses, interspersed," Bella said, wringing her hands in front of herself as she looked to the ceiling in thought.

Alice smirked. "You know, it's kind of funny that you chose those colors for roses."

Bella gave her a look that Alice promptly ignored. "I'm sure I don't know what you mean. The white represents purity and former human life. The red represents blood and the vampire life I've chosen and the vampire I'm choosing to marry."

The elder vampire blushed a bit, shaking her head. "I know, but the actual symbolism behind red and white together reminds me of the Maypole."

With a scoff, Bella hit Alice's elbow with the lightest brushes she could manage. "Thank you for that. I thought only Emmett could be vulgar."

"He brushed off on me when he wanted to."

Rolling her eyes, the younger vampire returned her gaze to the ceiling, thinking. "I had the florist in Portland on the phone. They're going to make the centerpieces, too. Simple tiny bouquets, nothing elaborate."

"We have the dresses for everyone, and the bridegrooms have their suits. Which is mostly just my brothers and Jasper," Alice muttered, flipping to the second page of the list. Here began the red marks and she couldn't help laughing to herself.

_I know I'd run into some stray lines eventually._

"We have the catering coming, we have your parents on their way—"

"Meaning Renee," Bella said.

"Meaning Renee. Phil, too. He confirmed. Then we have the clans coming, as well as the Volturi—"

"Wait."

Alice looked up to see Bella staring at her, body frozen of all motion, her face stark white.

"The Volturi? They RSVP'd?"

Alice nodded.

"But I thought—"

"It seems they're making an exception. I think they're impressed by your ability to rehabilitate from newborn to full-fledged and working vampire."

The news didn't wipe the shock from Bella's face. Instead, the younger vampire backed up until she found the edge of their white couch and sank onto it, her fingers gripping the back until the bones of her knuckles pressed against her skin.

"The tribes are going to be here, though. Jacob and everyone," she whispered. "What'll we do about that?"

Alice turned back to the guest list and scanned down the list of names she'd seen ten times over. "I'm sorry, but they won't."

Blinking hard, Bella's eyes focused. "What? What do you mean?"

"I mean, the tribes won't be here. They never responded to our invitation. They didn't make it on the list," Alice said. As she spoke, her voice grew quieter, becoming more and more conscious of the weight of the situation. Without warning, the words became harder to say and grew heavier in her throat.

Bella's silence was the only clue she needed to close the list back up. Folding the edges until they stood sharp and partially frayed, Alice took a seat beside her fiancee on the couch. Her lover's whole body seemed to have deflated, shoulders bent to the floor, hands loose and pliable in her lap. Winding an arm around Bella's waist, the elder vampire rested her cheek against her fiancee's.

"I'm sorry," Alice whispered, hugging her darling tightly.

"I don't know what this means," Bella said, speaking in a distant voice.

"What does what mean?"

Bella shook her head, her mouth slightly open. "What is he trying to tell me? I know he's mad, but can't he tell me that to my face?"

"Maybe it's too hard to?" Alice asked. She rubbed her fiancee's back, moving her fingers in slow circles. "Do you want to call him?"

Bella shook her head, her eyes still staring and still saying nothing. "I think he's made his choice. We ought to respect that, even if it hurts."

Nodding, Alice pursed her lips, then pressed a kiss to her lover's cheek. She liked that Bella leaned into it, but the sweet softness of the moment disappeared when the younger vampire picked the list from Alice's fingers.

"Let's double-check where everyone's sitting," she said.


	3. Chapter 3

The Wedding

Compared to the bustle around Bella's room, Alice's changing space was quiet. The elder vampire couldn't exactly figure out why, since usually she was the more outgoing of the two of them. Instead, though, she enjoyed the quiet. She took the time to look around her mother's room, where she was getting changed, and breathed in the smell of the only childhood she'd known—lilac powder.

Unlike in the rest of the house, the curtains hadn't been drawn to keep out excessive sunlight and set their skin glittering. Alice lingered in her silk robe, pressing her face to the window and smiling into the sun. She wanted a cup to capture this light, to pour the hot gold down her throat and warm her icy skin from the inside out. It felt right, in the name of the day ahead.

With a small click, the door opened and Esme stuck her head in. "Hi, sweetie," she called.

Alice smiled back. "Mom."

Esme shut the door, her lavender and peach skirts swirling around her legs. Thick brown ringlets bounced on her shoulders where they cascaded from the depths of her hair. Putting delicate fingers on Alice's shoulders, Esme led her daughter to the stool and picked up a makeup brush.

"Rosalie said I could do your makeup if she could help you with your dress," she said.

"You didn't want to help with the dress?" Alice asked, a small burst of alarm in her voice.

"I want to see you wearing it, but Rose can help you put it on." She worked in silence, being gentle around the eyes and making feather-light strokes across her daughter's mouth. "Are you nervous?"

"I'm nervous for Bella," Alice admitted at last. "I know she hasn't seen her mother since before the transformation and I can only think of what they'll say to each other when they meet now."

Esme nodded, using a forefinger to dab blush onto her daughter's cheeks. "I'm sure Renee is a warm, understanding woman if she was able to raise such a kindhearted child."

"Bella doesn't seem too concerned, but she never really did. I think she's more upset about Jake not being here."

Esme froze. "Jake?"

"The shapeshifter."

"Right, I remember." Esme put the brush down and picked up a tube of lipstick. Alice studied her mother's careful movements. "I'm just surprised at her surprise, is all. I mean, the Volturi are coming. At least, Aro is. I'm sure they wouldn't be excited about a troop of shape shifters coming in."

"Oh, she knows. She's just…sad about it."

Esme nodded, considering the tube of lipstick for a minute. "In that case, try to make this day even more special, for both of you," she said.

Alice smiled. "Of course," she said, puckering.

Once she'd been made-up and had her hair properly coiffed, another knock came to the door. Rosalie stuck her brilliant blonde head into the room, the white garment bag tucked under her arm.

"Is she all set?" Alice's sister asked.

Esme straightened and set the makeup brushes back in their short order. "As ready as you are. Do you mind if I stay?"

Alice scoffed. "Mom, really? You have to ask?" she said, getting up and steering her mother to the stool. "Take my seat."

Rosalie offered her sister a hand and together, they ventured towards the closet. Pulling open the double doors, Alice stepped into the slight shelter from her mother's sight and waited with uncharacteristic patience as her sister opened the garment bag and slid the dress out from within. Winking, Rosalie grinned, her cheeks dimpling prettily. "You're going to look wonderful."

Alice unzipped the back of the sleeveless dress and, abandoning her robe in a pile of silk on the floor, stepped into the skirt.

The whole ensemble flowed. She'd chosen a regular dress, not one of the princess gowns her mother and sister had crooned over when they'd shopped. The skirt draped around Alice's legs, moving with a gentle sprinkle of rhinestones encrusted in the skirt from where they tapered out of the bodice. Rosalie gasped as she closed the zipper for her sister and Alice couldn't help running her fingers along the underside of her breasts, tingling with the feel of so many rhinestones arranged in a series of tiny flower patterns.

"Oh, you're a dream," Rosalie whispered. She turned her sister by the shoulders until she could see the front of the dress and then clapped her hands over her half-open mouth. "Mom, come and see."

They heard the soft crinkle and patter of Esme getting to her feet and traveling across the room before another gasp sounded nearby and their mother mirrored Rosalie's expression. Hands flying to her mouth, eyes open wide and glittering, Esme stared at her daughter.

Alice giggled. "You're stunned. That's a first."

Rosalie laughed, but Esme looked ready to cry. Their mother didn't say anything. Instead, she reached out her hands and grasped Alice by the shoulders, pulling her close for a tight, warm hug.

For a second, it felt like any other hug that Esme had given her. Something sweet and kind to take with her on a journey that they wouldn't be able to share. When it lasted longer than a handspan of breaths, something changed. It became heavier, more weighted, and the realization brought tears to Alice's eyes, her breath choking. She gripped her mother harder, trying to match what she was being given.

"It's okay," she whispered, though she didn't know if it was for her mother's sake or her own. "This is going to be lovely."

"Oh, I know it will. I know you will be," Esme whispered into her daughter's hair. She gently, gently turned them in a short rotation, a swaying motion that sat well with Alice and helped calm the harried feeling in her chest where her heart had once beaten. "I'm just so proud of you. My little Alice. My beautiful daughter."

Not a moment later, they broke apart with a giggle and brushed at tears that weren't there. Rosalie pulled Alice into a sisterly hug, squeezing her shoulders tight, but not lingering the way their mother did.

"You still need your veil," she whispered, clearing her throat.

"On the way to the stairs," Alice said, nodding to the door.

Everyone took their seats except for the brides and their fathers. Alice and Carlisle waited in the right side of the hall while Bella and Charlie waited in the left. Carlisle was kind enough to grip his daughter's fingers while they waited, watching the backyard. Flowers had been draped from the trees and canopied the area where the ceremony was taking place. Plenty of people had lined up and filled the seats, with Bella's side being slightly less full than Alice's, but that didn't seem to matter. Nobody had caused a ruckus.

"I don't see the Volturi anywhere," Alice whispered, rising onto her toes.

"I think they'll be at the after party. I'm sure they're not the kind of people who enjoy the ceremony when they can talk to you later on," her father said.

Alice could feel his eyes on her face, but at that moment, the music sounded and anything he was ready to say was drowned. She watched in wonder as their bridesmaids—stunning in the silver dresses with sleeveless tops and clean-cut skirts—allowed themselves to be led down the aisle by her brothers and her ex. A slight pang went through her chest at the sight of Jasper in a tux. She remembered the night they were married, the joy in his face, and wondered at why he would've allowed himself to be roped into walking for her again, but not to meet her at the other end. He'd only volunteered to help, to lead Bree down the aisle. She hadn't seen a reason not to let him, if he was willing. No one had said a thing about it afterwards.

The music changed and she stiffened. Carlisle wrapped her hand around his elbow and smiled at her.

"It's time," he said, leading her into the space before the door.

Alice held her breath, trying not to stare too hard into the shadows of the opposite hallway. Finally, Bella and Charlie appeared and everyone—both parties—took deep breaths at the sights before them.

Charlie was stunning, of course, in his tux. She'd always thought men could clean up well when they put the time and effort in. But Bella—if Rosalie had seen her, she wouldn't have called Alice the dream.

The gown was long-sleeved and simple, with a trailing skirt and a plain front. Her lover's hair had been pulled back off her neck and a few fine tendrils draped onto her shoulders in a pretty fashion. The bouquet she'd chosen—an array of small, brilliant red roses—stood in stark contrast to the dress, but fit so perfectly.

"You're beautiful," Alice whispered before she could stop herself.

Bella laughed a little. "You are, too."

They stared for a second longer before they remembered to turn and start walking down the aisle side-by-side.

It had been Bella's idea for them to approach the altar this way. She'd wanted everyone to have a fair chance to see the brides, and she'd wanted them both to be able to walk. Alice was thankful as she went—the attention wasn't solely on either one of them, but if she'd been asked to approach the altar alone, she wasn't sure she would've been able to do it. She'd wanted her fiancee at her side and that was precisely what she was getting.

They kept the ceremony simple, exchanging a few words and a few vows and giving everyone plenty of time to stare in awe at the dresses and the arrangements. Neither of them had wanted to be on the stage for very long. As Alice spoke the words she needed to say, she was reminded of the night when they'd first discussed the wedding, holding one another's hands in bed. She'd asked Bella if they wanted to write their own vows and her once-human lover had laughed.

"No, I think if I write my own vows, we'll never get off the stage," she said, curling her fingers around Alice's and kissing the elder vampire's head. "I think we should wait and save our own vows for ourselves. You know, when we consummate the marriage. I think it'll be more special that way. It'll be just between us, not the entire world. They're not the ones who matter all that much, anyway."

She hadn't been able to argue then, and she wasn't about to argue now. Instead, she stared into her fiancee's brilliantly shining eyes. Her heart-space swelled with gratitude and love. She nearly crushed the flowers between them when she went to kiss her wife at the very end, her arms wrapping around Bella's waist so quickly that her once-human lover hardly had time to realize what was happening. Bella only gave a short gasping protest as their mouths met before she giggled and returned the kiss softly. Alice hardly heard the audience laugh a little, hardly heard the applause. She felt the softness of her darling's body pressed against hers, the slick shine of her lover's lipstick sliding against her own make-up mouth, the soft scent of perfume that radiated from the bend in Bella's neck and the swirls of her upturned hair. She felt warm for the first time in what felt like a thousand years. She relished the weight of the ring on her finger and the vows she'd given and by the strength of Bella's arms around her neck and the insistence behind her wife's kiss, she knew Bella felt the same way.

"That was a lovely ceremony."

Alice jumped slightly when she heard Aro's voice behind her at the after party. She and Bella had kept their arms around each other's waists, a gesture that was threatened to be over thrown by the hugs and greetings of well-wishers surrounding them. Now, the elder vampire tried not to blush.

"Well, thank you so much. We wanted it to be quick and sweet," she said, turning back to her new wife. "Bella, darling? Look who's here."

Bella turned and only a small leap of surprise leapt into her eyes before it disappeared just as quickly. "Aro, so good to see you."

Aro smiled the way an eel might and bowed, not taking his eyes from their faces. "Charmed, I'm sure."

"Are you the only one?"

The Volturi blinked and stood up straighter. "I'm sorry?"

"The only one of the Volturi, I mean?" Bella asked. Alice tried not to blush harder than she was.

Aro stared at her for a second and then laughed. "No, no, my dear. The guard are—" he waved a hand "—doing their job, I expect."

"It's nice you didn't have to come alone," Bella said and Alice tightened her hand around her wife's waist, warning her to quit while she was ahead.

Aro gave them another strange look. "Yes, I suppose. I wanted to wish you both the best, as you'd sent us an invitation and we hardly felt it proper to ignore. In fact, we had hoped this might lead to some mutual understandings between your coven and ours. Perhaps you were interested in joining?"

As Bella's mouth gaped, Alice stepped forward. "We're actually looking to make a coven of our own. Just us two."

The Volturi blinked at them. "Is that so? With just—two of you?"

She shrugged. "It seems rather fitting."

Aro gave a small laugh and nodded. "Yes, of course." He bowed again and backed up a step. "We'll be in touch, won't we?" he asked. Before either woman could answer, though, he'd disappeared.

Confused, each wife looked to the other. "What was that?" Bella whispered.

Alice frowned. "Nothing good," she said. As Bella's brow grew more worried, she steered her wife into the crowd. "Come on, let's mingle. It'll take your mind off of things."

They drifted around for another hour before the smell of wet dog wound its way across Alice's senses. Standing up straighter, she removed herself from the conversation they were in and peered about until she discovered Jacob standing at the edge of the property overlooking the wedding. He had a despondent look on his face, but he wore his best shirtsleeves and black pants. The sight made Alice's heart break.

"I think someone wants to see you," she whispered into Bella's hair. Her wife turned, gasping when she caught sight of her oldest friend.

"Should I go talk to him?" she asked when he gave a small smile, catching their eyes.

Alice grinned and patted her wife's bum. "Go on, before you miss your chance."

Bella shot her a bright-eyed look and disappeared into the trees. The elder vampire turned back to her brothers and sister where they were chatting at a table. She tried not to think of what was happening in the edge of the property, tried not to wonder where things were going, but she was curious.

_No,_ she told herself. _They're reconciling. It's not unheard of. No visions. Don't spy on them._

Taking a deep breath, Alice focused on the conversation in front of her, laughing when appropriate and sobering when needed.

Bella's touch on her shoulder half an hour later lifted her spirits. There was a look of peace on Alice's wife's face.

"I take it things went well?" she asked, sweeping Bella into a hug.

"Things went perfectly," Bella whispered.

The night closed with a swish and a flick and a dousing of soft paper lamps. They kissed and hugged their loved ones and friends goodbye, promised to write, to call, to attend events, and then sighed when the last car had disappeared around the bend.

"Let's not even look at that until tomorrow," Alice said when Bella glanced at the mess in the backyard of Carlisle and Esme's home.

"Okay," Bella said with a laugh.

They wandered over to the benches lining the yard and picked the one with the swing, leaning back to stare at the stars. From the corner of their eyes, they could see Alice's parents moving about in the kitchen and upstairs, cleaning and getting ready for bed.

Alice slipped her fingers into Bella's hand. Overhead, the stars danced and winked from between the trees and a cool breeze kissed their skin. Heavy feelings from before had lifted and whatever worries they'd carried seemed to be lost to the night. She wasn't sure what made the evening so magical, only that it seemed to promise the end of things that caused trouble and offered some kind of escape in its place.

So they rocked on the swing for the rest of the night, their fingers entwined the way the branches around them brushed against one another. Past and future seemed a moot point in the face of the great, expansive world before them.

And in that moment, they each felt that, at long last, it was finally theirs for the taking.

The End

Thank you for reading and enjoying this short story with me. I hope you've had as much fun as I have. Until next time, thank you so much and happy reading.


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